Happily, unlike other digital platforms, DSi games are still very accessible for all players. One of those that’s been waiting on my 3DS for years has been Mightly Flip Champs. It’s one of those games that takes basic platforming and introduces a twist – something like VVVVVV, with the twist this time that you flip to different screens instead of reversing gravity. Perfect downloadable game fodder.

Our Thoughts

The concept of the game is a good one – you flip between different screens each level, the next oen previewed on the other screen, and use the different paths on each screen to make your way to the exit. You will see where you will flip to, making it pretty easy to see what you’re doing and creating a nice set of puzzles that for the most part feel fair. It’s a neat concept and (ignoring some of the niggles below) give you enough hints on where to go to solve the puzzle while still having you plan a few steps ahead. More so on later levels, where you need to remember four layouts you switch between, challenging you to remember whether you should stay or move.

There are a few places where it doesn’t work quite as well, and it mostly happens where the puzzles are aobut reflexes rather than puzzle solving. When you flip and there’s a wall where you flip to, you die – erring, it feels, on the side of killing you. Where this gets frustrating are in the levels where you need to fall off a platform and flip mid-fall, landing on a new platform. It’s fiddly to flip at the right time, as the space is something only character high, and it feels like you die a lot. Grabbing on to fences as you fall lead to the same issue, and it feels too awkward if you’re not used to the controls. It turns a puzzle into a non-puzzle and doesn’t feel right. A similar thing happens when you get to flip between spikes, and positioning means more than is fun.

Sadly, it’s those sections I got stuck on, and it feels frustrating as I just want to move to the next idea and see what they do with the mechanics. There’s two games at play here, and they don’t mesh as well as they could.